Child seats

I have a tilting Hamax which I’ve used on a couple of bikes: Raleigh RSW, cargo bike facing backwards, retro GT road bike and 90s mtb. What I’ve noticed is the biggest things that make for a stable ride are a long wheelbase and a sturdy frame. You need the right bike more than you need the right seat, if that makes sense. The GT was a handful because it wiggled around something chronic. The mtb is by far the best bike because of the longer rear end and stiffer frame. It’s just completely planted even with weight on the back.

The Hamax lets you adjust the seat forwards and backwards on the mounting as well as tilt. Extra frame mounts are about £18 and we have 2.

Additionally, if you can find a broken seat being thrown out, you can bin the broken seat bit and use the frame as a rack.

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Dredging this to get some updated recommendations for a good kiddie seat....

It would be great if there was a quick-release option so me and my partner can have a mount each and transfer the seat without too much faff. My bike is kept in a paid storage shed that frowns upon big things like baby seats left attached to bikes, so I might be taking it on and off all the time anyway.

Ideally we could also continue using rear panniers.

Me and my partner both have old steel touring bikes but hers is mixte and mine has a horizontal top tube.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

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You can get additional Hamax mounts (which go on the seat tube) for about £16. We have two mounts. I also found a dead seat in the woods and the frame makes a good makeshift rack. On the subject of racks, there used to be a rack-mounted Hamax. It'll be worth dropping into a Halfords with both your bikes to see what will fit, in case it'll drop onto your existing racks.

I'm 99% sure you won't be able to use panniers with a Hamax rear seat because that's where your kid's legs will go.

Also worth bearing in mind that they spec racks that are rated to 25kg. Quite a lot only seem to be rated to 10kg when I looked. There also seem to be a lot more second-hand frame mount ones than rack mount (I've just picked up a Hamax Caress on ebay for £50).

agree with jonny 69
your personal bike is nice! those are 38 700c?

Cheers @aggi and @Jonny69 , will look into the Hamax - maybe it's all about front rack for a while.

@jBola - Thanks... The tyres are 48mm 650b. I had the frame converted from 700c to 650b.
There's a build thread here (from comment #612 onwards)

: )